I love drawing out the process of Christmas fun ... spreading out the excitement and little gifts instead of having one huge blow-out. Advent calendars are perfect for my preference of slow gratification and daily ritual.
The kids didn't get home until the 3rd, so I had to get it all set up and ready for them to start as soon as they got home. This year we've got the buffet in the dining room set up as Advent land.
First, we have fun packages that came in the mail from grandparents. Egg-carton advent calendars have been a tradition for several years, then we didn't get one last year because my father-in-law was very ill. So nice that they felt good enough to put them together again. They fill them with all sorts of random coolness, wrapped in bits of tissue paper, recycled office paper, and newspaper. We've opened some odd bits in the past - a dried dead lizard was a memorable one. So far, some cool rocks, a shell necklace, and a quarter have been revealed.
Then we have a Playmobil advent calendar. These are fun and come with a cardboard background that can be slowly filled with the figurines.
And then I wanted to sort of copy an idea I saw on the blog Salt and Chocolate, to have a winter scene with little parts individually wrapped, and each day the kids can open one and add to the scene. They can also play with the scene and move it about anytime they want. This was my favorite part of my childhood nativity scene, and one of my favorite childhood Christmas memories. Salt and Chocolate's version is very Waldorfy, (that's a word, right?) while mine is made of the cheesy pseudo Dickens Christmas Village stuff that I just can't help loving.
The kids are loving it all. OK - I love it too. :)
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